The present invention relates to parcel sorting and delivery and more particularly to a parcel sorting system and method for automating manifest generation, parcel placement in racks, and latter controlled access to the parcels. The invention has use in parcel delivery and in particular to steps taken during preparation of delivery vehicles for their delivery rounds.
Parcels are delivered by public and private concerns, including national post offices like the United States Postal Service and corporate delivery services like Federal Express and DHL. Parcels arrive at a central location and are distributed to delivery vehicles which will complete the last leg of the parcels journey to the delivery address. Delivery vehicle drivers usually wait for their parcels by a conveyor belt or the like. It is the driver responsibility to note the delivery addresses of the parcels, plan a delivery route according to the addresses, and load the delivery vehicle in an ordered manner such that parcels can be later retrieved. These tasks are time consuming, tedious, stressful and prone to human error. Where an error is made with a parcel, the driver must redirect his route and/or a delay occurs in parcel delivery. As with all businesses, the pressures on the driver are passed to the delivery service which is ever mindful of balancing quality, customer service and costs while providing additional services like alternate delivery addresses—yet another consideration for the driver. Accordingly, a need exists for tools to assist the driver and delivery service with the aforementioned burdens.